The Kootenay Literary Competition — presented by the Kootenay Literary Competition Committee — is now open to any residents of the Kootenay region.

Kootenay Literary Competition 2010 theme: isolation. Contestants should explore this theme in their original work.

However, the board had a meeting last week and no firm decisions were made on where to make up for the loss.

“We don’t have any definitive action at this point in time but we will be doing some homework and expect to have some ongoing dialogue with the city,” said Robert Morton, the board’s president.

Counc. Christine Thompson said in an email that she had not been contacted by the gallery yet and wasn’t aware of anyone else in council being contacted either.

The facility is used both by the school and other types of shows brought forward by various groups in the Columbia Valley.

The “Enhancing Performing Arts in the Columbia Valley Project” seeks to build capacity for performing arts, education and, sports and recreation in the Columbia Valley.

Donna Macdonald, who sits on Nelson’s Cultural Development Committee, says the mural — painted on Boomtown’s garage doors without city permission — was given a temporary blessing until the end of 2010, so council could base its final decision on the upcoming downtown design review.

But with the okay set to lapse before the review is due, and the committee already working on a joint art-approval process with the city’s Heritage Commission, Macdonald says Boomtown’s mural “seemed an obvious one to try it out on.”

Culture at the Confluence is an initiative that has been four years in the making. The site features upcoming events and a guide to culture in the area, with write-ups on each venue or group.

Audrey Polovnikoff, recreation and cultural programmer with the Castlegar and Distict Community Complex and recreation commission, said it wouldn’t have been possible to get the site off the ground if those involved with the city’s culture hadn’t been on board from the start.

“We sent out information on many occasions to let them know about the website and what we were working on,” she said.

It doesn’t have to mean even working at it from a young age in an attempt to create perfection. An artist can be born at any age, any time, anywhere. And that’s what Sharon Bamber has found out about herself.

From a career ranging from landscape architecture, sport management, zoology and finally pastel painter, Bamber has taken the road less travelled in finding her love of painting.

Forty-three years old, Bamber’s only been truly painting for four years now, which is roughly the same amount of time she’s lived in B.C. However, in just a few short years, Bamber has already won several national awards and an international award for her work.

The centre is holding lantern-making workshops so people can take part in the event on November 20.

People will carry their lit-up creations from The Arts Station to the Aquatic Centre, led by drumming and stilt walkers, then celebrate with a cake and bonfire.

“It’s just a fun festival,” said Oz Parsons, administrator at The Arts Station. “We will have lots of fire and light from lanterns, the bonfire, fireworks and also performers fire-eating and twirling batons on fire.”

A month after renovating and moving to a new location in the old Bank of Montreal building, Louise Drescher is literally beaming with optimism about Rouge Gallery’s future.

With its tall, luminous walls, natural light, honey hardwood floors, deep, airy space and high, ornate Rattenbury ceilings, the gallery not only lends itself to monumental displays of art and sculpture but is looking to expand its repertoire to include other forms of artistic expression.

As part of the award, Kleine received $10,000 from the City of Castlegar, which has purchased his sculpture for permanent display. He also received a $3,000 cash prize and certificate.

SculptureWalk organizer Pat Field said the awards gala, held Saturday night at Element, was “an overwhelming success.”

“This year’s category is literary arts, and for the first time there will be a $500 cash prize attached to the honour, provided by co-sponsors Otter Books and Packrat Annie’s,” explains Joy Barrett, the city’s cultural development officer.

The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in December.

The literary arts include fiction, poetry, screenwriting, playwriting and creative non-fiction. Exclusions include non-narrative journalism (news reporting), academic, and technical writing.

The awards gala will be held on Oct. 16 at Element and it includes an evening of dinner and theatre along with the awards.

“It’s to wrap up this year and celebrate the artists,” Field said.

Dinner starts at 5 p.m. and the awards will start at 7 p.m. Field said there will be a number of awards handed out to the artists, including artistic merit.

“It’s the best in show,” Field said. “We had independent judges come from the Okanagan.”

The winning artist will have their sculpture purchased by the city at an amount up to $10,000 and will also receive $3,000 from SculptureWalk.

“I am really excited and gratified for the opportunity to continue to build on the legacy that is Revelstoke. Our arts community is a vibrant, active part of our heritage,” said mayor David Raven.

Fortunately for residents who may be tired of the seemingly never-ending planning meetings, input will be sought during a special Spirit Festival to be held this winter, said director of parks, recreation and culture Kerri Dawson.

In Revelstoke, the answer seems to be ‘yes.’ The Roxy Theatre hosted a free screening of The Metropolitan Opera’s The Barber of Seville on Sept. 25, and many did break into an applause after individual performances – and it wasn’t even a live show.

Their first live offering is a showing of Les Miserables live from the O2 Arena in London on Oct. 4.

The Metropolitan Opera series starts live on Oct. 9 with a new Met production of Wagner’s Das Rheingold directed by Canadian theatre icon Robert Lepage. The show is the first of 10 Metropolitan Opera productions to be screened live at the Roxy Theatre as part of the iconic New York opera’s 2010/11 season. The Revelstoke audience gets front-row seats, as well as a look behind-the scenes during the intermissions.

The Rouge Cooperative of artists has worked around the clock for over a month to turn this historic room from a dim and dusty hole in the wall into a clean, bright, and inviting cultural center.

Andy Holmes, a member artist and one of the dynamos behind the gallery’s transformation, looked elated.

“We’ve been hopping,” he said. “I think we just finished about an hour ago!”

Renovations began in earnest in August when the walls were painted and the multiple layers of old floor were torn up and sanded under the able leadership of Claude Stormes.

Friday noon saw the official launch of 103.5 The Bridge, formerly Mountain FM, at a newly renovated studio at 318 Hall Street. While Mountain FM was a classic rock station, The Bridge’s format will be adult album alternative and indie rock, according to program director Drex Wilcomes.

“You will hear artists like John Mayer, Bob Marley, Sarah McLachlan, and Feist along with local artists like Cheryl Hodge, Wassabi Collective and Ty West,” he says.

“We really want the music to speak for itself. Every song has been chosen for a reason, and we have a massive library.”

He says the station has a “very low key, grassroots attitude… It’s an open door radio station. We want you to come down, talk to the team, give us feedback and bring us unique music. We have a mandate to be on top of everything in Nelson, but we need help to make it happen.”